The world’s largest automaker is suspending manufacturing at a 3rd of its factories, in accordance with Reuters. Toyota says it is going to quickly cease making automobiles at its Japanese factories after one in every of its suppliers was hacked.
The provider in query is named Kojima Industries, which makes composite and plastic components for Toyota, each for automobile interiors and in addition components for Toyota’s hybrid and gas cell electrical automobiles. Reuters quotes a Toyota spokesperson who described the occasion as a “provider system failure.”
Consequently, on March 1, Toyota will halt 28 manufacturing traces at 14 factories throughout Japan.
Toyota is changing into a frequent goal for hackers. The automaker was compromised at the very least 3 times in 2019, together with a malware assault in Australia, a breach of three.1 million clients’ information in Japan (and probably Thailand and Vietnam), and a rip-off that price a subsidiary $37 million.
Toyota was hacked once more in 2021, this time by way of a US components subsidiary, in an incident believed to be Russian in origin.
However Toyota can be not the one automaker to must halt manufacturing after being compromised. In 2020, we reported that Honda needed to cease making automobiles at vegetation in Ohio and Turkey and stop manufacturing of bikes in India and South America.
Little extra info is public about right this moment’s cyber assault, together with any potential suspects. Nonetheless, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida mentioned that his authorities would examine, together with any potential hyperlinks to Russia.